Acclaimed poet, author and civil rights activist Maya Angelou has died at her home in North Carolina at the age of 86 after suffering from long-term health problems. She was found dead by her caretaker on Wednesday morning.
Best known for her 1969 memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou was a fierce advocate of civil rights of all kinds. In 1996 she gave a speech at the GALA Festival, with the message that “I am gay… I am lesbian. I am black. I am white. I am Native American. I am Christian. I am Jew. I am Muslim.”
Angelou was also reported to have repeatedly phoned New York state senators in 2009, urging them to support marriage equality. At the time she said that same-sex marriage was a matter of fairness, telling reporters:
“I would ask every man and every woman who’s had the blessing of having children, ‘Would you deny your son or your daughter the ecstasy of finding someone to love?’
…
To love someone takes a lot of courage. So how much more is one challenged when the love is of the same sex and the laws say, ‘I forbid you from loving this person’?”
Angelou remained active towards the end of her life, and many are now sharing her final tweet, sent on May 23: